If we look at the way the universe behaves, quantum mechanics gives us fundamental, unavoidable indeterminacy, so that alternative histories of the universe can be assigned probability.
Murray Gell-MannRead
What is especially striking and remarkable is that in fundamental physics a beautiful or elegant theory is more likely to be right than a theory that is inelegant.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Elegant theories in physics are often more accurate than those that are not.
Murray Gell-Mann's quote emphasizes the intrinsic connection between beauty and truth in scientific theories. He suggests that theories which possess elegance and simplicity are more likely to be correct compared to those that are complex and inelegant, highlighting the importance of aesthetics in scientific understanding and discovery.
Themes
EleganceTheoryPhysicsBeautySimplicity
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on theoretical physics, one might reference Gell-Mann's quote to emphasize the pursuit of elegant solutions.
More from Murray Gell-Mann
All quotes →Just because things get a little dingy at the subatomic level doesn't mean all bets are off.
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Sometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties
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If someone says that he can think or talk about quantum physics without becoming dizzy, that shows only that he has not understood anything whatever about it.
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